Bliss...

I'm all about the one word subjects lately. But you don't really need words for this...

Roatan Bay, Honduras

or this...

Grand Cayman Islands

or this...

Cozumel, Mexico

or this...

Belize

Yep, we're going on a cruise and we get to visit all of those beautiful, warm, sunny places. I'm so excited!! The countdown begins. 40 days!

Fluff...

Snapshot of today 2010.03.08

Today was a good day.

Today was a long day.

I got 3.5 hours of sleep, boarded an airplane and made it to work by 9.

I'm in New Orleans.. my 1st time ever in New Orleans. 1st time ever in Louisana. I tried to count all the states I've been to, I think Louisana makes 25. I'm no world traveler.. but 1/2 of the US isn't too shabby, more than a lot of people. I'm not sure I've ever landed so close to so much water. Ps. the water wasn't very pretty.

Today was my 2nd time grabbing a taxi. 1st time by myself. I'm glad I'm not experienced in taxis. They are expensive. Thank goodness I'm not the one footing that bill. My driver got a little lost.. and I had to put the address in the gps for him... but hey, I got where I was supposed to be, so that's good.

Today I had trail mix and coke for breakfast. Followed by fried shrimp, steak labouchere, and crab ravoil for lunch and dinner. Today I learned how to break/eat crawfish from legit New Orleans peeps. Ate crawfish for the 1st time. Tomorrow we are headed to the french quarter and I guess we'll squeeze in some work along the way. ;)

Today also marks 7 full months since we moved to Atlanta. I can't believe it's already been 7 months! (when I started this blog post, I thought it was 6 months and was shocked by that.. even more shocked when I realized that it's been 7!!) Time really has flown by! I'm loving my job, my church family, my home, and my wonderful friends. We've been blessed with so many wonderful people around us that truly feel like family. It's great knowing that there are people I can really count on, no matter what.

Today was a good day.

Today was a long day.

I'm going to sleep.

One

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet nephew, Ethan. We had hopes and plans to be there but couldn't make it happen. Next year buddy!

vday love

Aaron and I did get to celebrate vday even if it was a bit late. Not only was it vday celebration, it was also date night. Lately Friday nights have been Aaron and Erin nights, but we rent a movie and stay home and relax. Then Saturdays are always filled with things to do... so date nights haven't happened too much lately. It was nice to spend some quality time together, doing the 2 things we do best. Eating. Spending time together.

Aaron got me some sweet flowers. I love getting flowers. They are the best. :) Looks like he wasn't able to find a vase.. I guess the fancy water pitcher does a great job as well.

Showing off the flowers. :)

1st we had a delicious dinner at Stoney River. We had never been there before and had heard some great things about it... and it was all true. We had a table right by the big stone fireplace!

And then we went to... MELTING POT! So.. we may seem a bit indulgent when it comes to food.. but it was necessary. Every New Years Day we celebrate with Aaron's family with fondue. We have an ongoing list where we write down ideas for upcoming years and cross off things that were not that awesome. We usually start around lunch time, and it's an all day affair. We do cheese and then the main course. We have everything: steak, shrimp, chicken, fish, potatoes, mushrooms (much fought over.. yuck), etc. We also have tons of fixings: A-1, teriyaki sauce, chive dip, ranch, etc. Seriously, it's a big deal. After the main course, we have to take a break. We usually watch a movie or take a nap or play a game. And then it's dessert time. oh yummy dessert. CHOCOLATE. with strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, pound cake and more. So delicious. Well, this year we weren't able to have the annual Howell Fondue day due to a cousin getting married. Believe it or not, there are a few things more important that fondue.. So, Aaron and I found it necessary to start the year off right (even if we were about 2 months behind) and have some chocolate fondue.

And there he is: the love of my life. smile.

Tick Tock

I love sleep... Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who sleeps their life away, a person who sleeps during every free moment.. but I sure do enjoy getting in my Sunday afternoon naps. And I sure do love sleeping in in the morning. But alas, I have a job. One that requires me to get up and shower and make myself presentable and arrive at my client's office at a reasonable time. Lately, (ok really I've had this problem as long as I can remember) I'm struggling with getting out of bed in the morning. I can always drag myself out of bed with just enough time. Sometimes hair washing is skipped... every once in awhile showers... sacrifices are sometimes made for sleep. I rush to get ready and speed to get to work on time. I used to think this was the perfect way to do it. Sleep as long as possible. But lately I've been thinking it would be nice to have just 15 or so extra minutes in the morning. 15 extra minutes to start a load of laundry, make the bed, eat breakfast, etc... Or 45 extra minutes so I could get a workout in during the morning instead of at 9:30 at night. I'm struggling. I'm not sure why I can't get up 15 minutes early. It's not like I don't get a decent amount of sleep. (6-7 hours is decent, right?) And every once in awhile, I randomly wake up at 5, but just go back to sleep because I just don't want to be awake that early. So I know it's possible.. I just need to figure out how to do it.

Maybe I need one of these: It's called a Sleeptracker. It's a watch that monitors your sleep patterns and wakes you at the optimal time. Unfortunately it's $179. ridik. but may be worth it...

Or maybe one of these:
CLOCKY! It's the roaming, wandering alarm clock. After you hit snooze, he rolls off the nightstand and roams around the house. You have to go track him down to turn him off. The only concern I see with this: Newton. Little more reasonable price: $50.

Or maybe one of these:
Still not so sure how this would work for me... I'm not sure light really wakes me up... and for $80, not sure it's worth the trial.

So.. those are some of the top contenders. Any suggestions??

Love...

Love. Just about everyone celebrated love this weekend, including Aaron and I. However, we probably celebrated a bit differently than others. We didn't have date night at a fancy restaurant or get fancy gifts for each other. Instead we ate homemade pot roast and purchased cards with unicorns and stickers, onesies, and brightly colored shirts. We celebrated the love of family.

After work on Friday, Aaron and I left our winter wonderland in Atlanta and made the trek to Memphis to see the whole Howell clan. We were all together in December, all except for the newest addition, Katie Joy. It was a special time for the whole family to all be together. On Saturday morning we went and had our first ever family portraits. They turned out so great! On Sunday we all went to church together. For a short while, Ellie sat next to me holding my arm and smiling up at me and singing along. It sure did warm my heart. Abby worked on a crossword next to me. I'm so impressed by her intelligence. Many times over the weekend, I got many “AUUUUNNT EEEERIN!!!”s and attacking hugs and kisses. Sunday afternoon, Aaron and I said our goodbyes. It was the last time we will see them for a couple of years. (hopefully 2012). It's really not that long... but it seems like a long time when I realize that Abby will be 8/9 and Ellie will be 6 and sweet newborn Katie will be 2 and a half. That makes it hard. My goal was to say our goodbyes without crying. I basically succeeded. Holding Katie one last time and giving her sweet goodbye kisses was a bit hard. I may have slightly teared, but I held it together. I made it all the way outside, then Aaron's mom gave me a final goodbye hug.

I blame her.

She was crying first.

It was such a special weekend to share love with our family, especially our nieces and nephew. Being an aunt is one of the best blessings.

Loving on Katie Joy. Katie is short for Katherine. Katherine means pure. She's Pure Joy. I love it. I love her.

Jeanette, the MIL, aka Nettie, had some Valentines games for the girls to play. They guessed how many heart candies were in the jar. Ellie insisted on 10, even though we counted more than 10 together. They also played pin the snowman on... the snowman. Luckily they had Grandma Ruth's silk sleep mask to use.

It was like Christmas all over again for the kids. Abby and Ellie decorated their own bags and helped with Ethan and Katie's. The bags were filled with all kinds of goodies such as candy, games, and clothes.

Ethan has the cutest laughing fits. We're not sure if he really thinks it's that funny... or if he is just deliriously tired. Either way, it's hilarious.

I got some major aunt points for sharing my red velvet cake and ice cream with Ethan. He loved it. Only for cute nephews (and nieces) would I not mind sharing. :)

Uncle Aaron and Aunt Erin with the nieces. (hindsight we should have had Ethan in the picture as well...

Howell Love Album